CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- University of New Hampshire's Shauna Sellenger (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry) earned America East Player of the Week for the week ending October 21, while Albany's Alysia Hough (Lehighton, Pa./Lehighton) became the fourth different Great Dane to win the America East Field Hockey Rookie of the Week award this season. The America East Championship four-team field is set--Boston U., Albany, Vermont and New Hampshire--after several deciding games were played over the weekend, but the seeds will not be decided until the final weekend of play October 26-27. Click here for full release.
Sellenger scored a goal in all three of UNH's games last week, and also recorded an assist to finish with seven points. Her tally against Fairfield gave the Wildcats a 2-0 lead and secured UNH's berth in the America East tournament. In the first game of the week against Davidson, Sellenger scored what proved to the be gamewinner when she gave the Wildcats a 1-0 lead at 12:44, and also assisted on the last goal of the 3-0 victory. Sellenger capped the week with a goal against #12 Boston College. That tally sparked a two-goal spurt that lifted the 'Cats into a 2-2 halftime tie with the Eagles.
Hough recorded two goals in two games for the Great Danes last week. She was responsible for UAlbany's lone goal against Boston U., taking a pass from Michelle Simpson and directing it into the cage. Hough also scored the Great Danes' first goal in a 2-1 win over Rutgers on Sunday. Hough has recorded three goals and one assist for seven total points as a rookie this season.
The America East Field Hockey Championship semifinals are scheduled for Friday, November 2, while the final will be held on Sunday, November 4. The number one seed in the tournament will host all three games.
Team Notebooks:
#16 Albany (13-4 overall record, 3-1 America East record) split two games last week, falling in conference play to #14 Boston U., 3-1, before defeating Rutgers, 2-1, at home... With the win over the Scarlet Knights, UAlbany remains undefeated at Alumni Turf Field this season with a perfect 8-0 record... America East Rookie of the Week Alysia Hough (Lehighton, Pa./Lehighton) scored the Great Danes’ lone goal against Boston U. off an assist from senior Michelle Simpson (Middlesbrough, England/Univ. of Teesside)... Hough also recorded the first goal of the game in UAlbany’s win over Rutgers... Sophomore forward Nicole Savage (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./James M. Coughlin) also scored against the Scarlet Knights... Savage leads the team with 13 goals and three assists for 29 total points... Freshman Anouk Vandenberg (Groningen, Netherlands/Proclinius Gymnasium) has a team-best 11 assists... Junior goalkeeper Ashley Ross (Lancaster, Pa./Conestoga Valley) is recording a 1.04 goals against average and a .800 save percentage... The Great Danes, who continue to be ranked in the STX/NFHCA Division I National Coaches Poll, host America East rival New Hampshire on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the regular-season finale.
#14 Boston University (13-4, 4-0 America East) clinched at least a share of its fourth straight America East regular-season title with a 3-1 victory over #16 Albany on Saturday... Earlier in the week, the Terriers came up just short in a 3-2 loss at sixth-ranked UConn... Senior Sarah Shute (Lincolnville, Maine/Somers (N.Y.)), who became just the fourth player in school history to tally 100 career points, scored a goal in each game and is tied for the league lead in both goals (15) and points (34). She also set a personal best for goals in a season after tallying 14 as a junior... Senior Hadley Adams (Barre, Mass./Quabbin Regional) tallied the gamewinner against the Great Danes, opening the scoring with a goal in the seventh minute... Senior Pam Spuehler (Sudbury, Mass./Lincoln-Sudbury) earned an assist in each game to raise her conference-high total to 11... Sophomore Gabby Hajjar (Ottawa Hills, Ohio/Ottawa Hills) notched her sixth goal of the season in the closing minutes against UConn... Sophomore Suus Dekker (Rotterdam, Holland/Insula College) converted a penalty stroke against Albany for her third goal of the season... Freshman goalkeeper Kim Kastuk (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Putnam Valley) tied her season high with nine saves in the loss to UConn... The Terriers will look to complete a perfect conference season for the fourth time in school history when they play host to Vermont on Oct. 27... The team's eight-member senior class will be honored prior to the game.
Fairfield (3-15, 0-4) heads into the final week of the regular season with an away game against Rider and a home game against Maine, the team’s final America East contest...Molly Byrnes continues to lead the team in scoring despite missing both games last week. The forward has eight total points with three goals and two assists. Her three goals also represent a team high...Liz Thomas is closing in on 150 saves for the season, needing four more to reach that mark. The senior, who has been ranked as high as sixth in the nation for saves per game during the year, is averaging just over eight saves per game heading into this week...She needs 10 more saves to become the third Stag to reach 400 career saves, joining Kandiss Kulp ?’99 (779 saves) and Lauren Thomas ’03 (565 saves)... Fairfield dropped a 1-0 contest to Quinnipiac on Wednesday, and fell to New Hampshire, 2-0, during AE action on Saturday.
Maine (4-11, 0-4) dropped a 2-1 decision to Vermont on Friday afternoon on a cool, damp Morse Field in Orono, Maine... Maine took a 1-0 lead on a first half goal by Brooke Anderson (Lovell, Maine/Fryeburg), but saw the Catamounts counter with two second half goals to earn the 2-1 win... Junior Nicole Emery (Winthrop, Maine/Winthrop) notched an assist on the Anderson goal... For Emery, it was her third assist, which tied her with senior Amy Zdrojesky (East Greenville, Pa./Upper Perkiomen) for the team-lead... Eight of Maine's 11 losses this season have been by just one goal, including the last four straight defeats... The Black Bears will see their six-year America East Tournament streak snapped this year... Before the game on Friday, Maine honored seniors Zdrojesky, Rebecca Giroux (Augusta, Maine/Cony), Kristen Healy (Turner, Maine/Leavitt), Christie Mosley (Hampden, Maine/Wilson College) and Erin Reusch (Salem, N.H./Salem)... Maine concludes the regular season on Saturday, Oct. 27 when it travels to Fairfield for a noon game.
New Hampshire (9-9, 2-2 America East) secured a berth in the upcoming America East tournament with a 2-0 victory against Fairfield University on Oct. 20 ... With a victory at Albany this coming weekend, the Wildcats could finish as high as the No. 2 seed ... UNH recorded consecutive shutouts last week; prior to the win against Fairfield, the Wildcats blanked Davidson College, 3-0, in a neutral-site game played at Dartmouth College ... Senior Margaux Shute (Norridgewock, Maine/Skowhegan Regional) earned the shutout in each game and now has five on the season; she entered her senior year with three career shutouts ... New Hampshire closed the busy week with a 5-2 loss to 12th-ranked Boston College on the Wildcats’ Senior Day at Memorial Field ... America East Player of the Week senior Shanua Sellenger (Londonderry, N.H./Londonderry) scored a goal in all three games and also tallied an assist for a total of seven points last week ... Sellenger has recorded a point in 10 of 18 games and leads the Wildcats in goals, assists and points ... Junior Brooke Bercari (Bordentown, N.J./Bordentown Regional) factored in both goals vs. Fairfield as she scored the game-winning goal and set up the other tally; she also had an assist in the win vs. Davidson ... Senior Jen Mooney (Manchester, N.H./Manchester West) scored her first goal of the season on Senior Day ... Leah Boody (Amesbury, Mass./Amesbury) recorded her first career assist against BC ... UNH went 6-2 at home this season ... The Wildcats conclude the regular season with road games against Albany and Sacred Heart.
Vermont (12-5, 3-1 America East) won twice on the week, defeating Maine on the road, 2-1, in a big America East victory and also defeating Columbia at home 1-0 on Senior Day ... Against the Black Bears, the Catamounts trailed 1-0 but scored two second half goals to pull out the win ... Senior Danielle Collins (Walpole, Mass./Walpole) scored a goal and handed out an assist while classmate Kelly McClintock (Williston, Vt./Rice) tallied the gamewinner with 22:10 to go ... The win also clinched a spot in the America East Championship for the third-straight season for Vermont ... On Sunday junior Kim Striegler (Whitney Point, N.Y./Whitney Point) scored the only goal of the contest 13:59 in to lead the Catamounts over Columbia ... With the win the Catamounts tied the school record for wins with 12, matching that of the 1980 squad ... Sophomore keeper Kristen Heavens (Harwinton, Conn./Lewis Mills) earned her fifth shutout of the year in goal for Vermont ... She has only allowed one goal in UVM’s last three games .... Vermont has now won six straight over Ivy League teams ... The Catamounts wrap up the regular season on Saturday when they travel to Boston University (1 p.m.) for a big match-up with conference championship seeding on the line.